OL last piece to the puzzle

In today’s story, Raiders coach Hue Jackson said “we’re pretty set just about every place” besides the offensive line.

Jared Veldheer and Khalif Barnes are set to start tonight against the Saints at left and right tackle, rookie Steve Wisniewski and Cooper Carlisle at left and right guard and Samson Satele at center.

Jackson hasn’t announced that five is who he’s going with Sept. 12 in the opener, so there seems to be some wiggle room. As in, tonight’s the last chance for some other guys to wiggle in the starting lineup. Barnes needs to hold off rookie Joe Barksdale and Stephon Heyer, and Carlisle has Bruce Campbell and potentially Daniel Loper trying to push him aside.

Loper, who the team re-signed this offseason for 2 years and $4.2 million, was supposed to replace Robert Gallery as the starting left guard. But he has been ever so slowly pushed aside to make room for Wisniewski after it became apparent he wasn’t going to beat out Satele at center.

As for the rest of the team’s starters, Jackson said he hasn’t decided how much they will play. Running back Darren McFadden (broken orbital bone) and receiver Jacoby Ford (broken hand) are back from injuries but Jackson said that he “just might keep the cellophane wrap” on McFadden. He was probably joking, but you never know.

Rookie running back Taiwan Jones will make his debut after missing the first two games with a hamstring injury and should see a lot of action.